A new report from the Center for New American Security calls for push for a low-cost drones that would provide an autonomous, lethal shield against an amphibious invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.<!–more–
來自新美國安全中心的一份新報告呼籲推動研發低成本無人機,這些無人機將提供一種自主的致命防護,抵禦中國人民解放軍海軍對台灣的兩棲入侵。
“Given their extremely low cost, Taiwan should build large numbers of these simple systems and invest in technologies that could provide autonomous terminal guidance for contested environments,” reads the report.
報告指出:「考慮到其極低的成本,台灣應該建造大量這些簡單系統,並投資於能夠在競爭環境中提供自主終端指導的技術。」
Stacie Pettyjohn, one of the authors of CNAS’ report “Swarms Over the Strait,” said the drones would give the island “a layered defense of uncrewed systems and precision strike.” In addition to eliminating the time-distance problem of reinforcing Taiwan, these systems would overcome the difficulties the United States has hitting moving targets with long-range cruise missiles.
斯塔西·佩提約翰(Stacie Pettyjohn),《新美國安全中心》(CNAS)報告《海峽上的蜂群》(“Swarms Over the Strait”)的作者之一表示,這些無人機將為該島提供“無人系統和精確打擊的分層防禦”。除了消除增援台灣的時間距離問題外,這些系統還將克服美國使用長程巡航導彈打擊移動目標的困難。
The report itself calls for U.S. investment in “autonomous kamikaze drones” as the most effective way of attacking ships.
報告本身呼籲美國投資於「自主神風無人機」,作為攻擊船隻的最有效方式。
The Army successfully fired two Precision Strike Missiles [PrSM] at a moving target during the recent combined joint fire Valiant Shield SINKEX 24 exercise, Bob Work, a former deputy secretary of defense, pointed out on Thursday.
美國陸軍在最近的聯合火力演習「勇敢之盾 SINKEX 24」中,成功對一個移動目標發射了兩枚精確打擊導彈(PrSM),前國防部副部長鮑勃·沃克在週四指出。
Thousands of prepositioned air, sea and ground drones operating in tandem on Taiwan could turn the 100 nautical miles separating the self-governing island from the Chinese mainland into a “hellscape” if Beijing attempted an invasion, Work said.
數千架預先部署的空中、海上和地面無人機在台灣協同作業,如果北京試圖入侵,將把這個自主管理的島嶼與中國大陸之間的 100 海里變成一個“地獄景象”,沃克表示。
Speaking at a Center for New American Security event, he echoed Adm. Sam Paparo’s, the senior U.S. officer in the Indo-Pacific, comments in an interview with a Washington Post columnist that Taiwan’s defense rests on having unmanned autonomous systems in place. That positioning “eliminates the tyranny of distance” challenge to operations there.
在美國新安全中心的一個活動上,他重申了印太地區美國高級軍官薩姆·帕帕羅海軍上將在《華盛頓郵報》專欄作家訪談中的評論,指出台灣的防禦依賴於無人自主系統的部署。這一立場“消除了距離的壓迫”對那裡的作戰挑戰。
Using uncrewed underwater vessels as an example, Work said “these fast mines or slow torpedoes” could be used to take out Chinese merchant shipping or combatants in port or in the strait if an invasion began. “All end in a big boom when you kill ships.”
以無人水下艦艇為例,Work 表示「這些快速的水雷或緩慢的魚雷」可以用來摧毀中國的商船或在港口或海峽中的作戰艦艇,如果入侵開始的話。「當你摧毀船隻時,所有的結局都是一聲巨響。」
He added, “getting their people ashore will be a real problem” when air and ground unmanned systems are in play attacking transport aircraft on their way to Taiwan and landing craft nearing shore and on the beach.
他補充說:「當空中和地面無人系統在攻擊前往台灣的運輸機以及接近海岸和在沙灘上的登陸艇時,讓他們的人上岸將是一個真正的問題。」
Work was formerly the chair of the U.S. Naval Institute board of directors.
沃克曾擔任美國海軍學會董事會主席。
He said last August’s announcement of the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative to field hundreds of thousands of drones quickly has had a deterrent effect. The “reveal,” as he called it, forced People’s Liberation Army military planners to rethink how they could operate against Taiwan and carry out long-range ambitions in the South China Sea.
他表示,去年八月五角大廈宣布的複製者計劃,旨在迅速部署數十萬架無人機,已產生威懾效果。他所稱的“揭示”迫使中國人民解放軍的軍事規劃者重新思考如何對台灣進行作戰以及在南海實現長期目標。
But, “Adm. Paparo wants to have an advantage” in concealing how these systems would operate together in combat, Work added.
但是,沃克補充道:“帕帕羅海軍上將希望在隱瞞這些系統在戰鬥中如何協同運作方面佔據優勢。”
The impact of even smaller drones with limited range and endurance in combat than seen in initial Replicator investments are seen routinely in Ukraine, the panelists agreed.
與會者一致認為,在烏克蘭,甚至比最初的複製者投資中所見的更小、航程和續航力有限的無人機在戰鬥中的影響已經變得常見。
Andrew Metrick, a fellow at CNAS, said Kyiv’s maritime drones have “rendered Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ineffective.” Other systems have affected supporting forces in the field, as well as providing intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance to Ukraine. Drones “can open up the battlespace.” The report notes they provide an opportunity to develop operating concepts and doctrine.
Work mentioned Russian advances in electronic warfare as an example of learning from combat experience. He added that in the long term, the United States needs to see EW as a means to “wipe out swaths of unmanned systems” and invest in it. He said cyber also has a major role in countering these systems. There is also the kinetic aspect: “Can we put a 100 drone swarm vs this 50 drone swarm?” On the kinetic investments, he added, “you better be on the right side of cost.”
As happened with the Pentagon’s “Third Offset” initiative to achieve dominance in one technology – autonomous systems, Work said, “I don’t know if we have enough money to support [Replicator].” Third Offset fell victim to sequestration, which capped domestic and defense spending in the Budget Control Act of 2011.
A major recommendation called for in the CNAS report was:
“The DoD and Congress, in partnership with U.S. industry, need to build both the commercial and military drone industrial base to scale production and create surge capacity. Although drones have proved not to be survivable, the United States can achieve some resiliency in its drone fleet by developing the capacity to rapidly reconstitute platforms lost in a conflict. This will require a more robust drone industrial base.”
Recognizing these systems can’t do everything, such as striking targets deep inside China, is important, she said. Long-range manned bombers still meet that requirement.
To Work, “autonomous” in 21st-century warfare means “a human must make the decision to take a human life” but not every action of a system.